The Fighting Bees track & field teams kicked off their outdoor season this weekend at the Warrior Opener in Fort Wayne, Ind. Despite some inclement weather, the Fighting Bees came to compete. Multiple athletes on the track and in the field events set NAIA A and B marks and set top marks in the CCAC.

Women's Meet

The Fighting Bees women opened their meet with the 100-meter dash where Anna Possehl finished 39th with a time of 13.76 and Alexis Oliver finished 50th in 15.02. Possehl and Oliver also took on the 200-meters, along with teammates Megan Jansett, Leah Rose and MacKenzie Clary. Jansett crossed the finish line in 23rd-place (27.35), Rose finished in 31st-place (28.15) and Clary placed 46th (29.80). Possehl and Oliver finished back-to-back in 54th-place (31.42) and 55th-place (32.47), respectively.

Jansett had her best race of the day in the 400-meter dash, setting a personal best of 58.95 and placing tenth-overall. Jadie Knecht finished 32nd in 1:04.62 and Anna Pierce placed 44th in 1:09.71. Brooke Hass finished in 47th-place (1:10.42) and Clary finished in 49th-place (1:11.42). Similar to Jansett, Rose also finished tenth-overall in her best race of the day, the 100 hurdles (15.47). Hana Hart crossed the finish line in 20th-place overall with a time of 17.54. Hart competed in the other hurdle event, the 400 hurdles, and had a great race. Hart finished in seventh-place with a time of 1:13.35.

St. Ambrose had two squads finish in the top-ten in the 4x100 relay. Madalyn Oltman, Abby Camp, Knecht and Rose finished in eighth-place (50.73), and Oliver, Possehl, Clary and Liliana Olsen finished in tenth-place (53.58).

Mickey Hayes jumped her way to an eight-place finish in the high jump, clearing the 1.51m mark. Hass cleared the 1.41m mark and placed 20th in the high jump. Alissa DeShane built on her fantastic indoor season with an eighth-place finish in the pole vault (2.90m) and a seventh-place finish in the javelin (27.18m). Camp placed 15th in the long jump (4.92m), along with Oltman in 23rd (4.67m) and Olsen in 30th (4.36m).

Annah Miller took home some hardware for her performance in the shot put. Miller won silver with a throw of 12.29m, the second-best mark in the CCAC this season. Sarah Smith placed 16th overall with a 10.60m throw and Taylor Smith placed 27th overall with an 8.48m throw. The Fighting Bees had five throwers compete in the "B" flight, with Miller taking the top spot (40.72m). Volleyball standout Jessica Hemm placed eighth (31.88m), Felica McCroy placed 13th (27.60m), Anna Dunne placed 14th (27.31m) and Taylor Smith placed 20th (19.19m).

Men's Meet

The Fighting Bees men opened their meet in the 100-meters where Andrew Olenek finished 22nd in 11.25 seconds followed by Davea Davis in 48th with a time of 11.81. Jackson Stoos was the lone Bee in the 200-meters, placing 34th with a time of 24.59. Stoos then took on the 400-meter dash along with his teammate Jonny Swarm and brother Maxwell Stoos. Swarm finished 16th overall with a time of 51.51, followed a second later by Jackson Stoos in 23rd with a time of 52.49. Maxwell Stoos crossed the finish at 56.65 to place 44th overall.

St. Ambrose ran five runners in the 800-meter dash. Kale Cartee led the way for the Bees, finishing 22nd overall with a time of 2:01.46. Following Cartee was Kyle Sellers in 2:02.78 for 26th-place. Tommy Ashby (2:06.55) and Elijah Boesch (2:06.80) finished back-to-back in 39th-place and 40th-place, respectively. Senior runner Aaron Cox finished 68th overall with a time of 2:18.55. Simon Hagen and Danny Par took on the 1500-meter race for the Fighting Bees, with Hagen finishing 45th (4:38.77) and Parr finishing 58th (4:58.32). Chris Borschnack represented the Bees in the 5k, crossing the finish line in 16th-place with a time of 17:37.68.

The highlight race for St. Ambrose was the 400-meter hurdles, where three Bees finished in the top-ten. Brothers Will Reemtsma and Jack Reemtsma both cracked the top-five, with Jack finishing fourth-overall with a time of 56.11 and Will bringing home the silver medal with a time of 53.80. Chody Thole crossed the line at 57.81 for a ninth-place finish. Will's time of 53.80 is an NAIA A mark, the fifth-fastest time in the country and the top time in the CCAC.

Both Reemtsma's then went on to compete in two different relays. Olenek, Will Reemtsma, Will Reynolds, and Jack Reemtsma carried the baton in the 4x100, finishing with a time of 42.98 and placing them seventh-overall. Sellers replaced Reynolds in the 4x400, running with Olenek and the Reemtsma brothers to a time of 3:30.10, good enough for a bronze-medal finish.

Samuel Rush built on his great indoor season in the pole vault, clearing 4.20m and just missing the podium in fourth-place. Justin Griser cleared the 1.79m mark in the high jump, placing him in 16th-overall. Quantrell Polk jumped to 14th-place overall (5.89m) and Thole jumped to 17th-place overall (5.76m).

The St. Ambrose throwers had a historic day at the Warrior Opener. Josh Mathis and Mick Saloninas took turns setting the St. Ambrose school record in the shot put. Wes Vaden's school record throw of 15.79m set in 2013 was dethroned by Saloninas on his first throw of the day (16.13m). Saloninas held the record for about 20 minutes until Mathis broke that mark with a throw of 16.46m, a new St. Ambrose best. Mathis and Saloninas finished third and fourth overall, respectively. Both throwers set an NAIA A mark, the eighth and 12th best throws in the country, and the second and third best marks in the CCAC. Also throwing shot put for the Bees were Jonah Wilson in eight-place (14.17m), Bryce Peacher in 11th-place(13.54m), Alec Seifert in 12th-place (13.47m) and Geoff Murphy (12.99m). Jonah Wilson won the "B" flight for discus with a throw of 44.11m.

Mathis translated that success into the discus throw, winning the Warrior Opener with a mark of 48.93m. Mathis' throw set an NAIA B mark, the seventh-best throw in the country, and the top mark in the CCAC. Murphy finished fourth place overall with a 46.16m throw. and Seifert finished in ninth-place with a 39.97m throw.

Jacob White finished in the top-ten for the hammer throw, securing ninth-place overall with a 47.65m throw. Jackson Callahan won silver in the Javelin throw with an impressive 53.28 toss, the best mark in the CCAC this season and the second-best throw ever in St. Ambrose history.

The Bees will follow up their impressive season opener when they compete at the Mount Mercy Mustang Open on April 17 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.